Chapter 5 by Eshaan Mistry

Chapter 5

By Eshaan Mistry

When my eyes finally lifted from the ground, I found a stranger standing in front of me. No empathy. No compassion. Just Bluu, with a heart cold as ice, reaching for his gun and ready to sacrifice me for his friends.

So naturally, I panicked. Taking him by surprise, I threw my shoe. Instinctually, he caught it, leaving him in an awkward position to grab his gun. In other words, I could run. And boy did I run.

I reached his Rolls Royce, and by sheer luck, managed to open the car before he fired his first warning shot. I looked back to find a frenzied Bluu trying to get the door of the totalled car open. It must have gotten jammed after the hectic chase with Freya.

“Jimmy! We can talk this over! Don’t-”

I pulled away, before I had a chance to second-guess myself out of pity. Then I realized I had nowhere to go. Bluu could probably find out where my therapy business was, and finding my house would probably be even easier. Sh*t. Anyway, it’s not like I was going to let all of the hostages get killed by Sunside…right? I just needed time to think, but before that, I had to shake Bluu off of my tail. His car, while still damaged from my earlier chase with Freya, was following me closely. I took a deep breath, and analyzed the streets.

There was nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run. The only advantage was that my car was in a better shape than his. So, I hit the brakes hard. Just as I skid into an alleyway, Bluu crashed into me. The smoke emitting from the front of his car transformed into fire. The bright dancing tendrils grew more and more in size and intensity until…silence.

I woke up nauseous and light-headed. As I turned over to throw up, I realized I was on a bed. On a second bed next to me was Bluu, all bruised, covered in bandages, and snoring with gusto. Am I…in the Dreamworld? Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize there was someone else standing in front of me.

“Ah. You woke up.”

He was a tall, rugged man, with dreadlocks and a tattered muscle t-shirt. Frankly, if his beard was any longer, he could’ve passed as homeless. He narrowed his eyes, looking alert and cautious despite the condition I was in.

“Wh-who are you?” I barely managed to speak. I sat up on my bed, despite the pain. “You from Sunside? N-Nozpin? How’d you bring us here?”

So many things had happened the past few hours I felt like I was losing my mind. The guy just chuckled. “Calm down boy. You and Bluu just barely managed to survive the crash. Oh right! You’ll want this back.”

He handed me my phone, cracked and scorched, but still functional.

“You really did a number on Bluu’s cars, didn’t you? Anyway, thanks to Bluu, I know you’re not completely an enemy.” He held up a small device.

I put two-and-two together and realized Bluu had probably put it on my phone to track and record my actions. Wow. These people really have trust issues. Well, with people like Freya running around throwing temper-tantrums, I guess it makes sense to watch out for double agents.

“So what organisation do you belong to? I would assume the Wang Group, since you know Bluu.” I was still being cautious, but if this guy was from Sunside I would’ve been staring at Freya already. Either way, I would be able to glean more information from him if I acted complacent.

“You really don’t know me, huh?” He just crossed his arms.

I racked my brain trying to figure out who this guy was. Could he be… one of Freya’s minions back when Eric and I were pitted against her? No. Wait. Back at the Wang Group headquarters, I remembered there were portraits hung up on a wall. Was he one of them?

“Are you part of the Wang Group? D-Do you know Freya?”

His face darkened at the mention of Freya’s name, but changed back just as quick. He let out a hearty laugh, then stared at me with an intensity I’d only seen once before.

“A member of Wang Group? Dude, I’m the founder.”

“Oh that makes sense. Wait what??”

He must’ve seen the visible confusion on my face, so he just sat down and started explaining.

“So you’ve been in this Dreamer business for a grand total of… 3 hours. I guess I’ll start from the beginning. Anyway, my name’s Frazer.”

He extended his brawny hand and smiled, expecting me to shake it.

I didn’t. How could I? At this very moment, there were dozens, no, maybe hundreds of Wang Group members probably staring down the barrel of a gun. And who held that gun? Freya. Sunside’s leader; Eric’s killer.

“Hey, uh…Frazer, was it? There’s, like, something more important that I kind of have to do first. I mean, I was a coward before, but now I realise that people’s lives are at stake and now Bluu is hurt and I don’t have a car and now you’re here and-”

“Woah, woah. Slow down. Explain.”

He withdrew his hand, waiting patiently for me to collect my scattered thoughts. And so I explained. The first encounter with Eric, Freya’s bloodlust, my totally heroic escape from Bluu—everything. It was so surrealistic, I half expected him to burst out in laughter again.

“She got Eric, huh?” Frazer muttered under his breath.

As we sat there in silence for a few minutes, Bluu woke up. He looked around wildly, not knowing where he was, until he saw Frazer. His eyes grew so wide I thought he was in a cartoon.

“F-Frazer?? You’re…supposed to be dead.” I

f I wasn’t confused already, I definitely was now. I’m dealing with the zombie leader of an organization fighting for power over superhumans in an alternate dream dimension. Neat.

“Heyy! Bluu my man. How’s life been treating you?”

Bluu burst out in tears then buried his face in his pillow. Frazer walked over and comforted him, making sure not to touch any of Bluu’s bandages. The day’s events had been so crazy I couldn’t even process what just happened. After Bluu gathered himself up, the three of us sat in a circle and contemplated our next moves.

“Let’s go to Nozpin. If we negotiate with them, they might be able to help us out, or at least get the cure. If we can get Eric back, infiltrating Sunside’s base will be much easier. He is a former Sunside member, after all.”

Bluu’s take on the situation surprised me, but anything was better than getting sacrificed to Sunside. I quickly seconded his idea.

“Well, y’all make this easy for me. I guess we’re going to Nozpin.” Frazer got up and laid on Bluu’s bed, motioning for us to do the same.

Bluu and I exchanged awkward glances at each other before crashing into the fluffy pillows. With great power comes great responsibility. Thanks Spiderman. Now I f****ng know what you mean.

The three of us went into an uneasy sleep, cherishing the last few moments of rest before waking up. We woke up in an alleyway to the sounds of police sirens slowly fading away. This was the alleyway Bluu and I crashed into. I guess the police have finished cleaning up the mess.

“These next few hours are gonna need tons of teamwork, at least if we want to accomplish anything. Forget about the crash, you two. Just focus on the mission at hand.” Frazer then helped Bluu up, and supported his weight as they walked toward a car parked on one side of the alleyway.

I followed, guessing that was what we were probably going to use to get to Nozpin. As we sat in Frazer’s Lexus, I noticed Bluu’s shaken face. He clearly wasn’t expecting this dude to be alive, let alone talk with him. I stared out the window at the bustling city. Wouldn’t it just be amazing to get back to my cozy office? No Eric. No Bluu. Just me fixing other people’s problems, enjoying the bliss of ignorance.

No! Every single person out there probably has a life just as complicated as me. What Sunside and Nozpin want to do…I can’t let that happen.

I imagined Freya’s power and what it had turned Eric into. If there was no one to stop her, who knows how far she’ll go? Then I imagine my power, loosening that tie, changing people’s personalities.

What if that went into the wrong hands?

An army of emotionless soldiers, brainwashed to do the bidding of Freya. Nozpin turning people complacent, giving the government power over every facet of their lives. Any future I thought of didn’t end well.

Ok Jimmy. Think of the present. There’s still hope.

I had to take my mind off of worrying. I’d been so lost in my thoughts, I forgot there were two other people in the car.

“So, Mr. Jimmy. You must have lots of questions.” Frazer checked the GPS, then let out a sigh. “We have an hour or so to waste. Tell me, what’s on your mind?”

“Well… um.” How do you know Freya, Eric, and Bluu? Why did you found the Wang Group? What’s your power? What’s wrong with Freya? Where do you get your haircuts? I didn’t even know where to start.

Frazer looked at me through the rear-view mirror. He just chuckled and said, “Alright then. I’ll explain everything.” He turned a corner and began speaking. “It all started with the Maerd family. Freya Maerd, Frazer Maerd, and the founder of Nozpin: our dad Freddy Maerd.”

Wait. What? They’re…siblings?! Frazer paused for a second to let that sink in.

“You’re really starting off with that? You almost gave me a heart attack!” He might as well have just punched me in the face. He grinned mischievously, then opened his mouth to speak again.

Sh*t. He’s just getting started.